CAS Co-ordinator/Support Secretary

Job overview

This is an exciting time to join the Respiratory Directorate in this newly created role.

The postholder will provide comprehensive administrative and secretarial support to the Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) for Respiratory Medicine. This role is essential in ensuring the efficient delivery of outpatient services by supporting clinical teams, maintaining accurate records, and contributing to the smooth running of the Respiratory Centre administrative function.

The postholder will

• Provide high-quality administrative and secretarial support to the Respiratory Medicine CAS, ensuring clinical correspondence is produced accurately and within required timeframes. •    Support the Respiratory Centre administrative team by undertaking general administrative duties as required to maintain service delivery. •    Demonstrate a high level of initiative by organising, prioritising, and managing workload effectively, making decisions within defined parameters and in accordance with the Trust Patient Access Policy (OP39). •    Manage outpatient clinic activity using CareFlow, including setting up, amending, cancelling, and rescheduling clinics as required to support service needs. •    Undertake general administrative duties relating to all aspects of services provided by the Respiratory administrative team. •    Ensure patient confidentiality is maintained at all times in line with Trust policies and information governance standards.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work within Respiratory Medicine providing essential administrative and pathway coordination support and will:

• Act as the main point of coordination for patients on CAS
• Monitor and manage patient pathways  Timely progression through diagnostics, clinics, and treatment Compliance with RTT targets and national/local standards
• Timely progression through diagnostics, clinics, and treatment
• Compliance with RTT targets and national/local standards
• Track and update patient activity on relevant EPR and clinical systems
• Escalate pathway delays or breaches to appropriate clinical or management teams
• Maintain accurate records and produce reports as required

Support Secretary Responsibilities

• Provide dedicated secretarial and administrative support to the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) team
• Support all areas as service needs require
• Manage correspondence
• Coordinate clinic preparation and post‑clinic outcomes
• Arrange appointments, meetings, and MDTs where required
• Support consultants and specialist nurses with administrative tasks

Reception and General Administrative Duties

• Provide cover and support to the Respiratory Centre Reception
• Greet and assist patients and visitors in a professional and compassionate manner
• Manage telephone and email enquiries, redirecting appropriately
• Undertake general administrative tasks including: Data entry Filing and scanning Use of electronic patient record systems
• Data entry
• Filing and scanning
• Use of electronic patient record systems
• Support service resilience by assisting across the department during periods of pressure or absence

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

CAS Co-ordinator/RTT and Clinic Co-ordination

The post holder will:

• Be responsible for setting up new clinic templates and carrying out amendments to existing clinics, ensuring a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail when entering information onto the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system. 2.    Ensure that patients on the CAS platform are monitored daily and progressed to an appointment or discharge in a timely manner and within the RTT deadlines.   Patients who are due to breach must be escalated to the Team Leader and/or Directorate Management Team as per the internal escalation policy / CAS process.   3.    Share RTT waiting list information for all clinical cohorts with clinicians and managers as required to support effective CAS coordination. 4.    Accurately record reasons for clinic and patient cancellations, appointment changes, and re-bookings in line with Trust procedures. 5.    Ensure the correct e-Referral Service (ERS) codes are applied for each clinical area when required, highlighting and escalating any discrepancies to the Team Leader. 6.    Adhere to clinic management procedures as outlined in the Trust Patient Access Policy (OP39). 7.    Liaise with the Directorate Management Team regarding clinic capacity issues arising from cancelled or amended clinics on Careflow and ERS and work closely with the Clinic Management Team as required. 8.    Support the Directorate Management Team with clinic template development to assist job planning and rota management, ensuring clinic codes, formats, and descriptions are accurate and compliant with Trust guidelines across face-to-face, telephone, and virtual clinics. 9.    Escalate RTT breaches or concerns to the Directorate Management Teams and ensure 18-week Referral to Treatment (RTT) pathways are opened and closed correctly in line with national standards.  10.    Notify appropriate teams when booking, changing, or cancelling interpreter services for patient appointments.  11.    Send patient communications using approved systems, including Envoy Messenger text messaging.  12.    Demonstrate competence in Microsoft Office applications and relevant Trust IT systems, including Careflow, EPR, and ERS.

Administrative and Secretarial Support

• Assist with the day-to-day running of the department, taking independent and appropriate action when required to ensure service continuity. 14.    Link outpatient and ERS correspondence to clinics on EPR, escalating queries and supporting the Team Leader to ensure accuracy in line with Trust-approved letter standards. 15.    Provide high-quality audio typing and word processing using medical terminology for medical and nursing staff, ensuring work is completed efficiently and within agreed timescales. 16.    Obtain investigation results and exercise judgement to identify abnormal results, ensuring urgent clinical attention is sought where necessary. 17.    Ensure all information and messages from patients, colleagues, and clinical or managerial staff are communicated efficiently, accurately, and sensitively. 18.    Provide support to the training and induction of newly recruited staff, including familiarisation with working practices, systems, and procedures.  19.    Deputise in the absence of the Senior Team Secretary, ensuring all duties are completed efficiently and service delivery is maintained.  20.    Provide cross-cover for the secretarial team during periods of absence. 21.    Liaise with the Information Department regarding the creation of consultant codes following new consultant appointments.

General duties

• The post holder will be able to demonstrate a competence in the use of Microsoft Office and other computer applications.  23.    Participate in the annual appraisal process and contribute to the development and review of a Personal Development Plan (PDP). 24.    Attend mandatory training and any additional training deemed appropriate by the line manager. 25.    Maintain flexibility to meet the changing needs of the service. 26.    Comply with Trust and local policies, procedures, and practices, including health and safety and fire regulations, and report accidents, hazards, or untoward incidents to the line manager promptly. 27.    Ensure patient confidentiality and information governance standards are upheld at all times.

This job description is subject to review at any time in consultation with the post holder.